Where to buy these American food products in Australia?

Oh Jadzia, all I can say is I wish you nothing but absolute success and happiness!  This journey will be something that you are doing for you, not for your mother or anyone else. The success that will come will be all yours - to gloat to your mother about, to live a new and happy life with and to truly embrace the person you are deep down!  Let this be the tipping point in your life, where you can leave behind all the negative and horrible events of your past and move towards an amazing future!

I love your point Bumbles about this being my body and no one else's business!!!! I'm doing this for me and that's all that matters!

I LOVE this group, it's the first time in many many years that I've felt comfortable talking about my weight struggles...knowing that you all understand and aren't judging me has made a world of difference to how I'm feeling about myself and my decision to have this surgery. Thank you x

Thanks everyone so much for all your kind words - I knew I was in the right place when I found you all :)

I am so much stronger than I would have been without all the crap that has happened in my life (my mother is only a small portion of it. It includes rape and domestic violence as well!) - but I am in a really good place now, with the support of my amazing husband of 16 years - and this will be the pinnacle of my self-improvement.

I can't wait to DO THIS! :D

You can bet I will be gloating at her :D

Oh, Jadzia, you beautiful soul, you! I was just about in tears reading the trauma you endured as a child , it's absolutely heart breaking ! The weigh & shame of WW is an absolute disgrace - I had a friend who did it as an adult, very successfully, post baby, and one week she gained 1/2 kg, I think. The fat, old lady who weighed her made a big deal ,very loudly, in front of everyone, and my friend - as an adult - was mortified. Of course, when she lost 1.5 kg the next week there was no song and dance.

As for the prescription drugs given to you as a child .......????????? I don't even have words... except maybe "Child Abuse"

You are clearly an AMAZING person if you've got through all the crap, abuse, hatred & vitriol thrown at you and you're still fighting! You SO deserve this, and I can't wait to read about your success with the sleeve and hopefully for your mother to say "Wow, I can't believe you're THINNER THAN ME" !!!!!!!!

Bumbles wrote:

My view is, if you wouldnt tell them when youre on your period (including specifics), then they dont need to know if/when youre having WLS.  

This is actually a fabulous point, Sally - I had never thought of it that way, but you are absolutely right! Who's body is it anyway???!!!

I wish, Bumbles. She is elderly and getting more frail by the day, and I am her only support. My brothers, including her only grandchild, have all-but withdrawn contact from her, and all the responsibility for her care falls on me as the only daughter, and the closest child geographically. We can't afford to move away from her but Vancouver sure looks nice :D

Im not sure where we get the notion that we need to tell everyone whats happening in our personal lives lol 

My view is, if you wouldnt tell them when youre on your period (including specifics), then they dont need to know if/when youre having WLS. A handful of people knew what I was up to, because I felt they needed to know, not just for support but in the off chance something went wrong. 

And what a poisonous mother Jadzia, I sure hope you dont have much to do with her anymore!

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread LOL :D

Yep, 3. I was in hospital having my tonsils out, and she told the nurses I was too fat for the jelly and ice cream the other 7 kid in my ward all got. I got baked beans on toast and soluble aspirin for my pain (this was early 1974 - long before children's panadol and nurofen were around) - they made me drink the aspirin, after I'd warned them I'd be sick - and I vomited all over my baked beans. I got nothing for dinner.

So shortly thereafter, she put me on a calorie-controlled diet. By the time I started school, she'd also given me her PRESCRIPTION appetite suppressants, made me use meal replacements and sent me to doctor after doctor to try and get them to make me lose weight. So my earliest memories are the message from my mother - the one person I'm supposed to be able to trust - that fat is the worst thing someone can be, and I wasn't worth anything if I wasn't thin like her.

By the time I was eight, I had already been fat-shamed by Weight Watchers. In those days, weigh-ins were done at the front of the room, in full view of all members - and when I put on weight almost every week (despite mother only feeding me what was on the programme and me not being able to access anything else) I was laughed at and ridiculed and shamed for doing so. I'd been to psychologists. I'd been on every fad diet my mother could find information on (including the Israeli Army diet, the Banana diet, the cabbage soup diet and more). But the weight kept piling on. By the time I left school (and home just three months later) I was a shattered girl living in a fat body with no hope.

I attempted suicide (once I almost succeeded) three times in my teens and early 20's (the first was at just 16. It failed spectacularly despite months of planning and hoarding drugs from the family cabinet. All I got was a three day headache and awful gastric distress. I know now I probably damaged my liver, though). Counselling failed to help me deal with the messages of fat hate that continued to come from my mother - and still come to this day. Recently she said that she would rather kill herself than let herself get as fat as me. Wow.

And I've been on a perpetual diet - trying every single method I could find - ever since. I've tried hypnotherapy. Subliminal therapy. Every diet you can imagine. Gloria Marshall. Jenny Craig. Wanted to try Lite N Easy but they don't do gluten free. Worked with dietician after dietician, doctor after doctor. went on a medically supervised inpatient programme - and I put on weight on 800 calories a day. They dismissed me early because they were sure I was cheating somehow. How? I had no visitors, and I could not leave the ward! But they were sure I couldn't possibly gain weight on 800 calories a day...

So here I am - hoping that this last resort finally works for me, and that my nightmares can finally be over.

I'm with fat-to-fit.... your mum put you on a diet at 3???? My gosh and I thought my mum as a nightmare that contributed to my weight problems! 

I'm scheduled for my surgery on the 21st September and have my pre-op appointment with my surgeon, dietician and psych this Wednesday.  The surgeon had mentioned that my optifast diet would be 2 weeks, so if all goes to plan I'll start that next Monday! yikes!

I agree with you fit-to-fat about people's perceptions and thinking this is the "Easy way out"...which is why I'm feeling like Jadzia in that I'm struggling with not telling people, yet I feel like I have no alternative but to keep this to myself and my hubby.  Perhaps once I've had the op and start to see the progress with my weight loss I might be more open??

I'm keen to try Cyborg as I'm lactose intolerant and the thought of milky like shakes for weeks on end is making me sick....errk!

I'm also a chocoholic....plus I have a severe coca cola addiction.....two things that I know I'll have to give up and I'm just hoping that like a lot of people on here have said, that my taste buds and cravings change once I get my sleeve :)

Wow, thanks for all that info, Jadzia - nice to have it all in th one spot!

Your mum put you on a diet at 3 ???????? :-(

It's frustrating that people think WLS is 'cheating'/'the easy way out' - that's why I'm not telling MY mum!!! She has been overweight since I can remember, she's lost quite a bit of weight now, but if I told her I'm having WLS, I know she's scoff & say "Don't be ridiculous, just  use some will power and go on a diet"....groan!

I don't know how long I'll have to do Optifast for, but good to know a fellow chocoholic can do it (I just ate a family block with my cofee this morning.....shhhh, I din't say that!!!! :-0  ) I am really hoping my desire for chocolate will disappear with 3/4 of my stomach !!!!!!

All the best for Friday, Jadzia, very excited for you!

I'm actually still 3.5 days from my sleeving (Friday morning) - but I have struggled with being obese my entire life - since my rail-thin mother fat-shamed me and put me on my first diet aged 3. I'm almost 45, so 41 years of obesity, and it has led to myriad health problems over the years.

I thought I would struggle with the lack of food during the pre-op phase, but I'm doing ok. I started on Rapid Loss shakes 18 weeks before the compulsory Optifast (day 11 today) to see if I could handle it, and I was fine. Once I got onto Opti, I didn't have the sugar and caffeine withdrawal (with nasty headaches and the like) so many people had, and only mild dehydration headaches, despite drinking the required 3L. I now drink 5L a day, and I'm ok with that. So that's probably been the easiest, despite me thinking it was going to be so hard for a chocoholic food addict to give up my two great loves :D

The hardest part is not being able to be open an honest with my family and friends. I mentioned WLS in conversation once, and was shot down with the old "that's cheating!" routine, so I never brought it up again, and I can't tell anyone (outside my wonderful hubby, mother and MIL) about my surgery, or that I'm even going into hospital :( But the joke will be on them when I lose all my excess weight and they'll all wonder how. I lost the first half on my own with diet shakes and lots of exercise, and will be using both post-surgery, so I can honestly say diet and exercise and hard work. They'll never know I had WLS...

Cyborg is widely used and accepted by most bariatric dieticians for post-surgery nutrition, but not before surgery, as are pretty much any protein sources you can handle (some people can't handle milky protein post-surgery, others do just fine. Some can handle pure water, others simply cannot, and low-calorie additives like Cottee's Squirt are good for that). Your goal is protein in, no matter the source, as your sleeve will prevent you from overeating - at least in the short to medium term.

What about you? How are you going with your prep? What stage are you at?

I buy torani sugar free syrup from usafoods.com.au

I don't mind PB2.  I get it from a health food store.

Thank you so much JadziaOz!!!!


Your tips and recommendations are awesome and have made me feel so much better knowing that I can find these products in Australia. Before I buy anything, I'll want to check with my dietician that they're ok.  


What part of the new "lifestyle" have you struggled with the most?  And vice versa, what's been the easiest part of the journey for you?


pl

After a few minutes googling and personal knowledge:

1. Isopure - try Cyborg protein drink. It's loaded with protein and comes in a few fruity flavours. Non-milky, people say it's like drinking fruit juice or cordial. Facebook "Cost Price Supplements" for a good price with Aussie shipping (they will ship to NZ if people ask nicely). I don't use it as I prefer unflavoured protein supplements.

2. Liquid water enhancers - try Cottee's "Squirts". Apparently they're really low-car/sugar and taste nice. I can't have them as they contain aspartame (highly allergic)

3. Premier shakes - can apparently be found at MrSupplement.com.au or Costco if you have one close by (or know someone who is close to one). Or you can substitute with pretty much any good whey protein isolate supplement on the market. I use Gladiator WPI - 28g protein per serve, no gluten, no sugar, no carbs, no fat. Really satisfying added half-strength to an Optifast (I did it as a trial ready for post-op).

4. PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter - a quick google search revealed this is available at many Aussie supplement places, like gnclivewell.com.au, nutritionwarehouse.com.au, iherb.com (cheap Aus shipping), elitesupps.com.au and a heap of others. However you might want to read this about Powdered peanut butter first: The Truth About Powdered Peanut Butter

5. Biotin hair care is available via chemistwarehouse.com.au and priceline.com.au (and many others) Check with your local Priceline - if they don't stock it, the might be able to get it in cheaper than ordering it online.

6. Torani syrups - lowcarbcentral.com.au, sugarfreezone.com.au, or email/phone Torani Aus on info@torani-aus.com.au or 1300 656 842 to see if they can import them for you

Hope that helps :)

Hi All,

I've been watching loads of youtube videos and reading sleeve blogs.  

In these, I've come across a few products that people seem to rave about and swear by.  I'm preparing for my surgery and would love to get these products to help in my journey, so was wondering if anyone on this forum knows where I can buy them in Australia or a site that ships to Australia without charging a fortune. 

The products are:
* Torani Sugar Free Syrups
* Premier Protein Shakes
* Isopure (everyone hates the taste of these but they're clear liquids loaded with protein which apparently help in the early days)
* PB2 powdered peanut butter
* Liquid Water Enhancers (apparently are sugar free and a small squirt is all you need to add to help drink all that water for people like me that don't naturally like it and are trying to come off a coca cola addiction lo)
* Biotin Shampoo & Conditioner (lol obviously not a food but seems to be highly recommended to assist in building healthy hair)

Any help would be great.  If I have to ship these from the USA the prices are exorbitant and I'd have to wait several weeks.

Thanks,
plp